Welcome to the World of Breathing
Education and Learning (O2 matters!)
Homepage: Norms, rates, CP and body oxygenation
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Why breathing should be strictly nasal. There are several fundamental physiological reasons, which based on dozens of studies, why normal breathing should be strictly nasal (in and out) ... Read more ... |
Why breathing should be mainly diaphragmatic at rest. While official medicine and various holistic therapies all agree about that, there are simple physiological reasons why abdominal muscles are created for breathing at rest ... Read more ... |
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Why normal breathing is slow. Normal breathing frequency is only 12 breaths per minute. Older textbooks often provide even smaller values (e.g., 8-10 breaths per minute). Most modern people breathe much faster (about 15-20 breaths per minute) and this reduces body oxygenation. In sick people, ... |
Why normal breathing is imperceptible. People with normal breathing do not feel their breathing. Why is it so? Normal tidal volume is only 500 ml or about 0.6 g of air, which is inhaled in during one inspiration. Hence, normal breathing is very small in amplitude. Sick people breathe deeper and often feel movements of air in the nose, chest movements, ... |
Parameters, graph, and description of normal breathing. The norm for minute ventilation at rest is 6 litres per minute for a 70 kg man. Medical textbooks also provide the following parameters of normal ... |
6 myths about breathing (over 90% prevalence). Myth #1. My breathing is OK and I know how to breathe. Less than 10% of people have normal breathing parameters and body oxygen stores these days ... |
Hundreds of medical and physiological studies have confirmed that hyperventilation (or breathing more than the medical norm, which is 6 liters per minute at rest) results in tissue hypoxia, while oxygen is crucial for all tissues, prevention of chronic diseases and vital health. Consider practical realization of this physiological law ("breathing more means less oxygen in cells") for people with various pathologies. Let us start with heart disease.
* Note. If you want to get more accurate results (how many patients were studied, where, which medical journal published the article, etc.) and even read the abstract just click on the graph.
If heart patients breathe much more air than the medical norm, it is logical that their heart muscle gets less blood and oxygen supply (see the next section). Should these heart patients slow down their breathing back to the norm, heart perfusion, oxygenation, state of blood vessels, and many other key parameters will be normal. This will result in no symptoms of the heart disease and no need for medication.
Let us look at MV (minute ventilation) in patients with asthma.
We can get the same general picture for diabetes.
Medical studies found the same result (chronic overbreathing or 100% prevalence of hyperventilation) for patients with COPD, cancer, sleep apnoea, liver cirrhosis, hyperthyroidism, cystic fibrosis, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, panic disorder, bipolar disorder, dystrophia myotonica, and many other conditions. If you want to investigate these results, look at the Table 1. Western scientific evidence about prevalence of CHV (chronic hyperventilation) in patients with various chronic conditions (33 medical studies). This data clearly shows that sick people breathe too much (or about 2-3 times more than the norm).
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Do healthy subjects, indeed, breathe normally or only about 6 liters of air per minute at rest? Consider this Table 2: Minute ventilation at rest in healthy subjects (14 medical studies). |
Humanity experienced a sudden upsurge of chronic diseases (or "diseases of civilization") during last century. This graph with Table 3 tells us about historical changes in breathing for normal or ordinary subjects (24 medical studies). |
We can see that "normal" modern subjects breathe about 2 times more air than "normal" subjects 70-80 years ago, when the rates of chronic diseases were about 10 or more times less, while healthy subjects still have normal breathing parameters. We can also observe that sick people, while breathing more air at rest, have low body oxygenation. Click this link for more information and medical quotes about O2 importance.
Breathing, body oxygenation, and their measurements
Let us now focus on body oxygenation: how breathing controls cellular oxygenation, how a person can easily measure body oxygenation (a simple stress-free DIY test), and typical results for this test for different groups of people.
| Why do we develop tissue hypoxia when we breathe more? During normal breathing our arterial blood is about 98% saturated with O2. Hence, breathing more cannot improve blood oxygenation to a significant degree. At the same time, we lose CO2 and its deficiency generates lack of O2 in tissues. Read more about hyperventilation and cellular hypoxia ... |
“Oxygen content in the organism can be found using a simple method: after exhalation, observe, how long the person can pause their breath without stress.” Dr. K. P. Buteyko. There are two important factors for measuring the Control Pause (the oxygenation index or stress-free breath holding time test): first, it is done after your usual exhalation ... |
| Since healthy people breathe less (lighter and easier) at rest, do they have good breath-holding time results (high CP)? These western studies are summarized in Table 4 (CP test in healthy people) ... |
We can see that sick people breathe more air, but what are their CP test results (or body oxygenation index numbers)? This graph and table 5 tell us about typical breath holding time numbers in the sick ... |
Buteyko health zones Table and Morning Hyperventilation effect
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Dr K. P. Buteyko, when he was hired in the early 1960s by Soviets to lead the respiratory laboratory and the classified project devoted to respiration, diseases, optimum air composition, and effects of life style factors, for first Soviet outer spaceship missions, recorded parameters of thousands of healthy and sick people and suggested the Buteyko Table of health zones ... |
The above-mentioned information (about MV, CP, and oxygenation in the healthy, ordinary and sick) relates to day-time values. However, breathing parameters are worst during early morning hours. The effect if even stronger in the sick causing devastating effects on their health. Read more about the Morning Hyperventilation effect ... |
"Hence, normal breathing corresponds to a healthy organism." Dr. K. P. Buteyko, "Dr. Buteyko lecture in the Moscow State University on 9 December 1969"
We cannot control, in direct sense, development of chronic diseases, but we can control our breathing, directly and indirectly, 24/7.
Now it is possible to analyze or even provide answers
to three questions:
● Are there many chronic diseases or only one (with various
symptoms depending in environmental factors, life style parameters,
and individual predisposition)?
● What is the name of this disease?
● How should it be treated?
This website is devoted to analysis of causes, effects, and other factors related to breathing, body and tissue oxygenation, development of chronic diseases, and their prevention and treatment using breathing retraining.
Other categories of this website are:
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Patterns and O2 (breathing patterns and oxygenation)
- CO2 effects (information pages about breathing
control, properties of CO2; evolutionary aspects of breathing)
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Diseases and symptoms (and how they are
connected with breathing)
- Causes of HV (causes of chronic
hyperventilation)
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Breathing retraining (general
information about breathing retraining, Buteyko breathing method, and
resources)
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Learning "Survival" (learn Level 1 modules to save your life)
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Teaching (details about my teaching Buteyko breathing
method)
- Books and DVD (3 books and video-DVD)
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Free downloads
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More topics and information